Rob and I got back from our honeymoon yesterday and this is the first chance that I've had to log on in over a week. So, it looks like I have some massive amounts of catching up to do on here. In order to save my sanity (and my hands from cramping) I'll be posting about the honeymoon in separate entries.

Okay so, the wedding:

I got up at a decent hour last Saturday, showered, shaved, and snuggled my soon to be husband. My Mom picked me up at about 1pm and took me over to her hotel room. My dress was already there so I just needed to bring a few extra things along with me.

When I got to my Mom's hotel she and my Nana started to get ready. Mom had gotten some snacks (cheese, cold meat, pickles, etc.) for myself and the bridesmaids to make sure that we ate something before the wedding. This was a very good idea considering that I ate almost nothing at the wedding. So, I munched and then started to do my nails. When I was working on my nails Lisa and Mindy arrived at the hotel room. We talked for a little bit and then Donna and Ellen arrived. Once everyone was there we started getting ready. Make-up first (Donna had never worn make up before so everyone pitched in and gave her a hand), then the under-clothes (a very snug "hey-I-can't-breathe-or-move-in-this-thing" body suit for me), then the sparkly body powder, and then the dresses. Mindy and my Mom both helped me get into mine. The fact that getting into a dress had to be a group effort should give you some idea of how hard it would be to do anything in it.

Once we had all gotten our dresses on the photographer came in the room and started taking pictures. It was annoying. I was trying to get ready (I still needed to put lipstick and my headpiece / veil on) and he kept telling me to pose. Now, you have to remember that I HATE having pictures taken of me. I loathe it, so the fact that I was tolerating this guy says a lot. Finally the bridesmaids and I told him that we NEEDED to finish getting me ready and we then spent about a half an hour getting the head piece on.

We had a little time before the limo arrived to pick us off and whisk us away to the Castaway so we took some pics outside. Finally, around 4:15pm the limo arrived and we headed up to the wedding site. Once we got there the limo driver tried to open my door and was a little scared when every girl in the car (myself, Mindy, Lisa, Ellen, and Donna) started screaming at him to shut the damn thing. Apparently the men had a brain spasm and decided to be outside when the limo pulled up. After much confusion and running around the men were finally put in a little dark place, er, I mean they were taken to another room so that Rob could not see me before the wedding.

I went into the cocktail room and finished getting ready. At one point I had to pee. Sooooo, not cool in that dress. Peeing was another group effort. Mindy guarded the door and Lisa and my Mom helped me to be able to pee. I won't go into the details here, but let's just say it was a rather humiliating experience and that I made sure not to drink much else the entire night for fear of having another group peeing effort.

Once the wedding started and the bridesmaids walked down the aisle I had a total panic attack. I was begging for a valium and started to freak out. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..." was said about 500 times in 30 seconds. Then I told my parents that I didn't think I could do it (I knew I could marry Rob, but I didn't want to be there with everyone watching me). My Dad said "like hell you can't" and with a shove from my parents I started the walk.

I don't remember much of the ceremony. I think I was in a state of panic. I remember trying to make sure I didn't faint, looking at the groomsmen, looking at Rob, and trying not to freak out. From what I hear the ceremony kicked ass, but my brain has shut a lot of it out. That sucks, but at least I didn't pass out, right?

After the ceremony there was about an hour's worth of posing for the camera while the guests got to mingle in the cocktail lounge. Then came the grand entrance (the DJ made sure to announce us as Jennifer and Robert and not as Mr. and Mrs. Rossel - yay) and then I finally got to sit down. Just in time too, because I was seriously about to tip over from stress, exhaustion, and painful footsies.

John (Rob's best man and brother) gave a beautiful toast and then Mindy (my maid of honor) gave her toast. Luckily she hid the fact that she was already a bit on the tipsy side. Well, kind of. Dinner started and I couldn't eat much. I didn't hear anyone complain about the food though, which is good. Rob and I got to talk to a lot of people and it was wonderful being able to see some of our old friends again.

After dinner we walked around and mingled a bit and then came the first dance. We danced (if that's what you could call it when two people who cannot dance get on the dance floor with everyone staring at them) to "Deliver Me" by Sarah Brightman. Then I danced with my Dad and Rob danced with his Mom to "Young At Heart" by Sinatra. After that we spoke with more people, went outside to get some air and look at the stars, and then came back in for the cake cutting. Yes, Lisa is right, we did use forks. I'm sorry but I'm not going to get all messy and sticky in that dress. Besides, with everything we had handled that night eating cake out of each other's hands would have just been unsanitary. After the cake cutting I threw my bouquet and I think many people were surprised that it wasn't bound. For those of you at the wedding, yes, the bouquet was supposed to come apart into individual flowers. That way more people could catch something and hopefully no one would try to kill another person just to get the bouquet (though I think that Ellen caught the most flowers). Rob then did the garter toss after being forced to take it off with his teeth. That was amusing. He threw it and Berek's brother Ben caught it.

After some more mingling things wore down and people started leaving. My Mom finally drove an exhausted Rob and I back to our apartment. It took Rob about a half of an hour to get me out of the dress. Heh. He had to work for it that night. ;)

Later in the evening Berek stopped by to pick up Rob's tux. Then Rob and I opened some of our presents and passed out.

Okay, my hands hurt from all this typing so I'll cover some of the honeymoon at a later time.

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